The Great Journey
by icechains55
Summary: They've lost their home and must now go a place they never thought they would see. Will he be able to tell her before the war reaches them? As humanity's last hope fights the Covenant millions of miles away, Oliver is dreaming of the girl he loves. HMHalo
1. Rebirth

**A/N:** Ah, my first ever fanfic, and what a feat I have undertaken; a Hannah Montana/Halo crossover. These two things are so completely different that you would have thought I just picked the two at random. I actually have a lot of faith in this story and am confident that I have enough knowledge about both universes to make it very enjoyable to read for fans of either. I expect some flames because this is such a weird pairing, but I strongly suggest constructive criticism as this is my first story. Special thanks to Disney, Microsoft, and Bungie Studios, for making great games, technology, and amazing characters. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Microsoft owns Halo, Disney owns Hannah Montana, and I own a computer and an HDTV. Yep, I'm kick-ass.

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**0800 HOURS, SEPTEMBER 16, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) \**

**ABOARD ARMORED CIVILIAN FRIGATE, UNSC SUSPENDED SHADOW \**

**EN-ROUTE TO EARTH, SOL SYSTEM**

_She's so incredibly beautiful. Her long chocolaty brown hair, her deep blue eyes, perfect smile, and the intoxicating scent that seems to emanate whenever she's close by …it's enough to drive a man mad. Her lips are absolutely amazing; Moist and glistening as they ascend to my own. I don't think I've ever felt anything as soft as her lips on mine. This just feels so right, so amazing, and so…surreal. As we pull apart for the first time, I see a single tear running down her cheek._

"_Finally," she says._

_I cannot believe this is happening! My best friend, Miley Stewart, actually returns my feelings! I've been waiting for this moment for what seems like forever. _

_She's looking at me expectantly, and is just about to lean in again, when…_

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I open my eyes and see my transparent reflection staring back at me in the clear acrylic of the cryotube. Of course, you always wake up from the good dreams right as the best part is right around the corner. Oh man, I really wish that I had just stayed in cryosleep for just a little while longer. My eyelids actually feel as if somebody is holding them down. As I attempt to sit up, I suddenly feel a huge wave of nausea hit me. Post-cryo protein spills are definitely not my favorite way to start my day, or in this case, my week. I detach the vomit-filled acrylic bag from my face, and with a look of disgust, toss it in the garbage chute beneath my cryo-tube.

I swing my legs over the side of the tube and look in front of me at a somewhat displeasing sight. My best friend, and girl of my dreams, is currently engaging in her own post-cryo protein spill. I avert my gaze before I see too much, and proceed to stretch my legs on the hard metal floor.

Even though this is now a civilian frigate, the Suspended Shadow was once a great UNSC fighting fortress. One of the most powerful ships in the fleet for the sector around planet Reach. But that was before the war; Before the Covenant. Now it transports refugees.

"What are you staring at Oliver?"

"Oh! Uh, nothing. I was just thinking of how much I really hate waking up from Cryo. It's like being born again or something." I laugh.

It's funny how I always end up staring at her. I mean, she's so beautiful that I can't seem to take my eyes off of her; even when she's puking up cryo nutrients.

"Yeah, I know. I really don't understand the need for the 'throwing-up-when-you-wake-up' thing. But hey, I'm gonna go to my quarters and get ready for breakfast. You better hurry up and do the same if you want to get your hands on some real waffles for a change," she said as she stood up and walked toward the door.

Mmm waffles! I almost forgot about those.

"Alright, I'll see you in a few."

She exited the cryo chamber through the large automatic carbon-steel doors.

We had just slept for about two weeks, and I am so starving. To actually get some real food before we reach Earth will be heaven. We had just narrowly escaped Reach before the battle began. Before we entered cryo-sleep we heard that the planet had been glassed by the Covenant and that most of the surrounding ships in the area had been destroyed. Almost an entire fleet of UNSC ships have been wiped out in a single day. I heard that it was the largest loss of human life at one time in the history of the species. That's scary.

My parents were about my age when the war started twenty seven years ago, and they had never seen so much as a single covenant cruiser until last month; when the war got a little too close to home. Our parents were shipped out a day before us, so they will be waiting for us on Earth when we finally get to whatever city we're supposed to touch down at. Lilly, Miley, and I were actually put on this ship by accident. Jackson, Miley's brother, is with their dad on the other ship. We had been a little bit slower getting our stuff packed and, in the short amount of time we had to evacuate, we took the wrong shuttle from Reach's surface to the orbital docking station where the Suspended Shadow was.

We've all been relocated to Earth. The original human home world. It's strange though. Of the hundreds of planets that we could have been reassigned to, we had to be stuck with the most overpopulated, dirty, and most strategically war-prone one. I've never even been to the Sol system before and I already missed seeing half of it thanks to that darned cryo-tube.

I walk through the doors of the cryobay and slowly make my way to my assigned quarters, walking past crew members, wounded soldiers, and other kids hoping to see their parents again by the end of tomorrow. Some soldiers, in full combat attire, were patrolling the halls. The marines carried huge assault rifles that actually scared the crap out of me. I hope that the war never reaches us again. I wouldn't know what to do if I ever got separated from Miley. She's the one thing that seems to be holding me together lately.

I finally enter my tiny room to see Lilly sitting on my cot. She jumps up and hugs me instantly.

"Oliver! When did you wake up? I've been waiting around since 0630 for you guys!" Lilly practically screamed at me.

I looked at her for a second and finally replied, "Whoa, hold on. Why are you even in here?"

"I came in here because I wanted to see Mars, and I couldn't see it at all from my room, and then I just decided to stay here and surf the net for awhile. It was so cool Oliver! Reyes Shipyard almost eclipsed the whole middle of the planet."

I smiled in envy at her amusement. Mars was a bustling port planet that had been transformed from a dead, deserted landscape, into an oxygen-enriched world, suitable for sustaining life on its own. The project was one of mankind's greatest accomplishments, second only to interstellar travel. The planet is mostly red in color, but has a few scattered man-made oceans, and forests, as well as giant cities.

"We're that far already? Damn it, I'm pissed. I really wanted to see that."

Hey, it was on my list of things to see before I die. Lilly walked over to the tiny window with a smile on her face.

"Well, you can still see it if you want," she said.

She pointed through the window. I walked over and peered out. There was Mars. The tiny red dot off in the distance, probably fifty million miles away by now.

"Gee, thanks." I answer stoically.

"That's what I'm here for," she giggled.

I walked over to the electric wall 'closet' where my clothes were and took out a red micro-neoprene shirt and some grey pants that were of the same soft, light material. I then pressed another button on the wall that emitted a blurry holograph around where I was standing so that I could change without Lilly seeing anything too private. I slipped off the cryo-suit and put on the clean clothes as well as a pair of shoes. I don't really care for the style of shoes that I've been supplied with, but I guess they're ok. The shoes adjusted and form fitted to my feet as soon as I applied weight to them. Same old stuff, different apocalypse.

"You finally ready for breakfast now buddy?" Lilly asked as soon as the holograph disengaged.

"Yep, let's go. Miley should be waiting for us already, but knowing her, she probably had to refresh after cryo."

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We entered the crowded mess hall and after gazing over the large room for a matter of seconds, we found what looked to be Miley's head, resting on one of the carbon-steel tables. She was alone, which was strange considering the large amount of people in here today. I walked over to the table with Lilly in tow, and gently rubbed Miley's shoulder.

"Hey Miles, are you alright?" I asked in a caring tone.

She slowly lifted her head up and turned to face us. She gave a small reassuring smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just got off the com with my dad."

"Really, are he and Jackson ok? Did they make it to Earth alright? Which city are they in? Are they there yet?! I completely forgot to call my mom when we exited slipspace!" Lilly shot out question after question lightning fast at Miley, who just sort of looked at her amused at Lilly's ability to panic.

"Lilly, please calm down. So what's the update Miley?" I asked, also curious to find out just where we needed to be going when we finally reached Earth.

Miley smiled warmly at us and said, "Everybody is fine. All of our parents arrived in Paris, France about six hours ago. The only bad news with this whole situation is that the ship we're on isn't touching down anywhere near Paris. The Suspended Shadow is scheduled to dock on the Lunar Belt in about two hours. From there we can take a shuttle from the moon to Paris. The shuttle only takes about an hour to reach atmospheric entry so we might actually see our families by dinner time."

Lilly and I nodded in unison and soon Lilly was back at asking Miley questions. I however was rather annoyed. I don't get why we can't just take the on-board shuttles from this ship straight to Paris. Why should we have to dock on the Lunar Belt? The Lunar Belt is a giant man-made tubular structure that goes all the way around the moon. Parts of it are for different things, such as military training, tourism, and a large part of it was a customs department where every immigrant had to check in at before setting foot on Earth. The Belt also serves to regulate the planet's seasonal tides, and is regarded as another one of mankind's greatest technological achievements.

We shouldn't have to go through customs since we're regarded as refugees not immigrants.

Anyway, I guess sleep will be easy tonight, that's for sure. If only I knew what the rest of the day had in store for us…

**A/N:** Well, it took 2 weeks but I finally got the first chapter posted. You don't have to have ever heard of Halo to read this story; it will be completely raw and new. If anyone has any questions about the Halo side of things, such as the technology, the places, the futuristic stuff, or the 550 years of history that have happened between now and when the story takes place, please don't hesitate to ask. I will be extremely happy to answer or at least point you to the people who know the answers.

Please review. Thanks.


	2. Home

1130 HOURS, SEPTEMBER 16, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDER)\

ABOARD ARMORED CIVILIAN FRIGATE, UNSC _SUSPENDED SHADOW_ \

LUNAR BELT, THE MOON, EARTH ORBIT, SOL SYSTEM

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"Brace for docking procedure," the ship's Artificial Intelligence said over the com.

Miley, Lilly, and I had just arrived at the Lunar Belt and were apparently about to dock at one of it's many docking stations. I was looking out one of the windows of the Suspended Shadow at the moon's surface and could see the small city of Copernicus just over the metal hull of the Belt.

Since the Earth hadn't risen over the moon's surface yet, we still couldn't see the planet. I was actually getting nervous about just seeing Earth. I mean, I had seen it on the news, and in movies before, but I've never seen it in person.

I've actually only been to one other planet besides Reach. I was ten years old, and my mom decided that she wanted to go on a different kind of vacation that year. She wanted to go to the Sigma Octanus system to see the various nebulae and asteroid fields. I could care less about that stuff; I just wanted to go Sigma Octanus IV, the main planet in the system. We ended up traveling all over the system on various tours and we stayed at a nice hotel in Cote d'Azure, a large city near the outskirts of a giant rain forest on Sigma Octanus IV. It was the coolest vacation I had ever been on. It's too bad that most of the planet is in ruins now. I would have liked to go back sometime. Maybe even with Miley.

Earth was supposed to be different though. The planet was heavily armored to say the least. It is known as the 'Jewel of Humanity' after all. 300 Super Magnetic Accelerator Canon (MAC) Platforms orbited the planet. These canons can shoot a 3000 ton round at 30 kilometers per second. It sounds intimidating, but from what I've heard, a single shot usually can't even penetrate the energy shields of a Covenant cruiser. Sad, I know.

Apart from the massive firepower surrounding the planet, Earth is still supposed to be quite beautiful, despite having an ever-growing population of nearly 20 billion. Earth has seven continents that have almost entirely been populated. Even Antarctica, the land mass at the southern pole of the planet has been populated, and thermo-regulated to allow for comfortable temperature changes.

I'm kind of excited to actually be going to a decent city. Paris is in Europe and is one of the Capitals of Earth. The other is Rome, Italy. The UNIG (United Nations Imperial Government) Chancellors live in each of these cities. Paris is actually one of the only cities on Earth that has stayed true to its roots. The Eiffel Tower is still the tallest building around for miles and most of the city still uses the same architectural scheme that it has been using since the middle ages. The actual capital building is a huge dome shaped structure, called the Great Hall. It's so big, that it has actually rained inside the building on occasion.

I was suddenly jarred from my thoughts by the voice of the ship's AI. "Please prepare for de-boarding process. Welcome to the Moon."

I felt warm fingers on my shoulder and looked to my right to see Miley, who was carrying a small cargo-case, looking at me.

"You about ready to get moving Oliver?" she asked.

I smiled before saying, "Yeah, we just need to find Lilly and we're out of here."

As if on cue, I felt a tap at my shoulder. I turned around only to see a smiling Lilly practically beaming with excitement.

"This is so cool you guys! I can't believe we're actually almost on Earth!" Lilly exclaimed with a little more enthusiasm than necessary.

Miley and I laughed at Lilly's excitement, and the three of us began walking in the direction of the elevator that would take us to the boarding room. Once in the elevator, Miley said something that I had surprisingly not thought about yet.

"So what do you guys think will happen once we reach Paris?"

I thought for a moment and said, "Well, we'll find our parents, hopefully find a place to stay, and then maybe have some time for some sight-seeing."

As the elevator doors opened, Miley gave me one those genuine smiles that only she can give. I swear, I would give anything to be able to have that smile directed at me everyday for the rest of our lives. She is so incredibly beautiful. Just the way that she's looking at me right now, makes my knees weak. Time practically stops whenever our eyes meet like this. Those intensely deep blue orbs that I drown in whenever possible.

A loud 'beep', signaled our arrival at the boarding deck, and the end of our little moment as Miley and I averted our gazes away from each other and directed them towards the opening metal doors. We seem to be having more of those little moments lately, though I'm sure that it's only my imagination running wild. After wishing and hoping for a few years that the girl you love actually loves you back, you start to hallucinate every once in a while.

The three of us exited the lift and entered the giant boarding room. This room used to be a docking bay that held Longsword Bombers, Pelican Dropships, and Scorpion Tanks, but has since been refitted into a simple boarding room. The 'room' was rather large at over a hundred meters long by about 50 meters wide. There was a single large entrance door at the far end of the room, which was located on the starboard side of the Suspended Shadow's hull. The door is connected to the Lunar Belt by means of a boarding passage, which we were just moments from walking through.

I just couldn't contain myself. I had to say it. "To the moon, Alice!"

Miley and Lilly looked at me as if I had six heads.

"What? Haven't you two ever heard of The Honeymooners?" I asked. Their silence and strange looks answered my question.

"American television sitcom about five hundred years ago, one of the first television sitcoms…never mind. I just couldn't resist saying that line." I laughed.

Lilly laughed and said, "It amazes me at how much of a nerd you can be Oliver."

I looked at Miley and caught her averting her eyes from mine. Was she staring at me? I hope so!

We were walking down the long path of the boarding passage now, and I found myself looking out the large windows at the moon's immense surface again. There were so many craters in the soil; it had been continually pelted by asteroids for millions of years. That's kind of how my heart has felt for the last few months. Barren, empty, continuously pelted by whatever she can unknowingly throw at it. It's hard being in love and not being able to tell the other person. I never fully understood the term, 'hole-hearted' until now.

We exited the boarding passage and entered the boarding gate of the starport section of the Lunar Belt. The room we were now entering was extremely immense. There were three stories including the one we were on. This deck was the boarding deck; the next was what looked to be a traffic deck that featured pedestrian walkways and a wider causeway for vehicular access; finally, at the top was a shopping mall.

"Wow look at that! If you look down there you can't even see the end of the room." I said, pointing to our right.

"Duh, the Belt goes all the way around the moon and is only divided in five spots. This is just the spaceport." Miley said.

"How do you know so much about the Lunar Belt anyway?" I asked.

Miley pointed up and said, "There's a mall here, I'm a girl, do the math."

"Oh yeah, I apologize for ever doubting your feminine instincts Miles." I said, suddenly realizing how stupid a question I had asked.

Lilly giggled at us and asked, "So where do we have to go to get to Earth?"

Lilly can be really cute with her heavy supply of innocence that she lets loose every now and then.

I turned my head in her direction and answered, "Well, first we need to find the Earth shuttle station, and with some luck, we'll be able to catch a shuttle to Paris relatively quick."

"Well, in my experience, there's no such thing as luck, so let's go." Miley said and began walking towards a digital directory of the Belt. This left me with a rather nice view of her backside as she walked away, which left Lilly the difficult task of moving my jaw back into its upright and natural position.

"Try not to stare too long lover boy." Lilly said after closing my mouth for me. She then followed Miley to the digital directory, leaving me with a slight grin on my face.

Lilly had discovered my crush on Miley about a year ago. She hadn't been too surprised about it, which was understandable. I remember her saying, "hey, you live with having two best friends of the opposite sex for fifteen years, and you're bound to fall for one of 'em sooner or later." I have to agree with her. Especially since both of my best friends happen to be extremely cute.

"Oliver get over here, ya donut!" I heard Miley scream at me, awaking me from my thoughts.

I walked over and replied, "Yes, your worship?"

"We need to travel about thirty kilometers in that direction," she pointed to our immediate right, "just to get to our shuttle, which takes off at 0100." She complained with a look of defeat on her angelic face.

"So how do we get thirty kilometers away in less than an hou?" I asked, exasperated that the situation seemed to get worse every other minute.

"Well, we have to take one of those vac-trams, and the estimated travel time is only about fifteen seconds. This means that we'll be stuck at the shuttle boarding gate for about an hour still." Lilly said as if it was a matter of fact.

I had forgotten that was how you traveled around the Lunar Belt. Vac-trams were like small train compartments with seats in them. The tram moved through an airless tube at about 8000 kilometers per hour. The vac-tram single-handedly destroyed Earth's airline industry in the early 22nd century, as well as revolutionized Earth's subway and tunnel systems, and has since been used on every planet ever colonized by humans. So it's kind of strange that I hadn't thought of that.

"Alright, let's go." Miley answered. And with that, we headed for the vac-tram doors.

Once inside the vac-tram, we took our seats and strapped ourselves in. The doors shut and an AI construct's voice could be heard over the com-channel. "Preparing for artificial cabin gravity depletion," The AI said. It was strange; you could actually feel yourself get lighter by the second, and the grav-restraints tighten as to keep you from floating into the air as the gravity is sucked from the tubular shaped tram. Then the engines started and a shallow beep could be heard which signified that the air had been sucked out of the tube. Twenty seconds later, the gravity had been restored, the doors opened and the grav-restraints loosened, thereby allowing us to take them off and exit the claustrophobic vac-tram as the AI was saying, "Thank you for using Lunar Tram Services."

After getting off the tram, we entered what looked to be the exact same area of the Belt that we were in before. In fact, I had to look back at the tram just to make sure that we had actually traveled two feet. The only difference was that this giant room had the words, 'SHUTTLE BAY' written on the huge wall in front of us.

Miley looked off to her right and said, "Come on guys, we need to get to gate 107."

Lilly and I followed Miley to Gate 107 which was crowded with people sitting in almost all the seats, waiting for their ride to Earth. Through the large windows next to the boarding doors, we could see the shuttle being refueled. The shuttle looked almost like a Pelican-class dropship used by the military, except it was much longer and didn't have any guns on it. It did however retain the slanted nose, stubby wings, and rear engines of its battle-born cousin.

"So, what are we gonna do now? We still have just under an hour until this thing takes off. Do you want to go and get some lunch at a nutrition center or something?" I asked as I could feel my stomach rumbling. I guess the waffles I had for breakfast didn't keep me full for long.

"Is eating _all_ you ever think about?" Lilly asked rhetorically.

I smiled and came back with, "Hey now, I think we both know that food isn't _all_ I ever think about." I motioned to Miley as I said 'all', who happened to be kind of staring off into space. Literally.

Lilly rolled her eyes in disgust at my bold statement and looked off to where Miley was now staring. "Wow…" was all she said.

They were looking through the window of the boarding gate at what could only be described as a sight for sore eyes. There, out in the cold, distant, emptiness of space was one of the most amazing things I had ever seen.

Repeating Lilly, and seemingly mimicking her astonishment, I breathed my own, "Wow…"

The planet looked rather small from here, but it was still amazing nonetheless. A blue, white, and green orb, which was just floating out there. It wasn't much to look at right now, but it wasn't just its appearance that made it brilliant. We were looking at over four billion years of evolution, 200,000 years of human history, people, plants, animals, land masses, oceans, technology, we were looking at all that the human spirit had led to; All that the human spirit had accomplished and sacrificed. We were looking at what needed to be saved, protected, and kept secret. But most importantly, out of all the other things, one word described what we were now looking at.

Home.

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**A/N:** Oh man, this chapter seemed so long. It took me three full nights to write this damned thing. But I'm really proud of it. I think it leaves more of an impact than chapter 1 did.

I borrowed a bit of sci-fi from other great works, such as the whole concept of the lunar belt. That's from the movie, Starship Troopers, which was excellent and I suggest everyone see that movie right away. Just the concept was borrowed from that movie, as the movie version was more like just a hollow ring around the moon that served as a port for different ships.

The vac-tram is a real-world concept that is currently being proposed to design an underwater tunnel from New York to London.

The Great Hall as the capital building was actually a proposed capital building for the world had Germany won WW2. It was designed by Hitler's architect, Albert Speer, and was said to be so big that it could actually rain on the inside of the giant dome.

Yes, I am a history major.

Last but not least, there was a tiny tribute to Star Wars in there as well.

The next chapter will be very crucial to the plot of the story as the trio should be reunited with their families in Paris.

Please review. It gives me focus.


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